Royal River Chorus is a membership organization of female singers, who meet regularly to practice, perform, socialize, and have fun. Royal River consists of 35+ women of varied backgrounds and professions, united by a love of singing and performing. Members come from six counties in southern, central and mid-coast Maine.

Affiliation

Royal River Chorus is a chapter of Sweet Adelines, International, a non-profit organization of approximately 30,000 members worldwide. Headquarted in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it is the world's largest music education association for women singers. Sweet Adelines is dedicated to the promotion of 4-part a cappella harmony in the barbershop style, an original American art form.

Performance

Royal River Chorus entertains at least 3,000 people each year at annual shows, community events such as the Yarmouth Clam Festival, private functions, and at annual competitions. They also enjoy performing Singing Valentines on Valentines Day. Royal River Chorus is available to sing at your next function or event. If you're looking for a unique musical experience to liven up your event, please see Hire Us.

Education

In addition to sharing music with others, another great passion of the chorus is learning more about the art of acapella singing. Vocal instruction is a regular part of chorus rehearsals, and a very important component of the chorus experience. A few times a year, the chorus will get coaching from a visiting master in the art of barbershop, where they learn many fabulous tricks of the trade.

CompetitionIn the spring of every year, Royal River Chorus participates in the Sweet Adelines Region 1 chorus competition in Springfield, Massachusetts. Competitions are a special time for quartets and choruses from the region to come together to sing for each other, and get some constructive feedback from a panel of judges. The winners of the regional competition in both quartet and chorus categories get to travel to International Competition, which is held in the fall in a city selected each year.

HistoryThe Royal River Chapter was organized in Yarmouth, Maine in 1983 by 12 experienced Sweet Adelines. The chorus chartered with the international organization in January, 1985 with 25 members and has grown in size and talent ever since. Throughout the years, Royal River members have maintained a special bond of friendship in harmony, and eagerly welcome other women to share their hobby. In recent years, the chorus has maintained standings within the top four at the annual Region One Competition in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Achievements:

In Atlantic Region One of Sweet Adelines (which includes New England and part of NY and Canada), Royal River is currently the the 4th place medalists overall.

Because of high scores at recent Regional Competitions, the chorus qualified three times to compete as a “Wild Card” with the 40 highest-ranked Sweet Adeline choruses in the world at Sweet Adeline International's annual competition. The first International Contest was in Phoenix, AZ in September 2003, where Royal River earned the Harmony Achievement Award (an award given to the "smaller" chorus who scored the most points during the contest.) In October of 2005 Royal River competed at International in Detroit with 52 members on stage. Our third time was in 2009 in Nashville.

Previously Royal River had won the title of Division AA World Champions by virtue of winning the organization's Harmony Classic Contest twice, the first time in San Antonio, Texas in 2000, and then again in Greenville, SC in July, 2002. (The Harmony Classic is a contest for the top small and mid-size choruses.)